Mrs. Schiffer is now a fan too. Why celebrities invest in football

Claudia Schiffer recently caused a surprising stir in the football world with an Instagram post: She posed in a fan shirt of Premier League club Brentford FC. At first glance, the post appeared to be part of an advertising campaign for the London club, featuring the German supermodel as a prominent brand ambassador.

In fact, Schiffer was announcing that she and her husband, director Matthew Vaughn, had acquired a small stake in a holding company whose portfolio also includes Brentford FC. On the occasion of the agreement, Schiffer exulted that she was looking forward to experiencing the "beauty of the club" for herself – after Pelé, with whom she had presented the trophy at the opening match of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, had once told her that football was a beautiful game.

Schiffer's entry into the world of football, which she had previously only touched upon as an occasional spectator, followed a clearly recognizable trend: football clubs have become the new luxury for world-famous, glamorous, wealthy, and otherwise privileged personalities.

They are now considered status symbols of "beautiful people," just like villas, yachts, private jets, and other expressions of ostentatious wealth. English football, in particular, has become a central arena for this development—a hotspot for neo-football-savvy celebrities from a wide variety of industries.

In the Premier League, prominent millionaires are currently involved in five of the twenty clubs: basketball legend LeBron James holds shares in Liverpool FC; actor Michael B. Jordan is involved in AFC Bournemouth; several American sports stars, such as swimming icon Michael Phelps and golf pro Jordan Spieth, are involved in Leeds United through the investment arm of the American football franchise San Francisco 49ers; football star JJ Watt has invested in Burnley FC; and Schiffer in Brentford.

The list of celebrities continues in the lower English leagues, and now extends into amateur football: Tom Brady, seven-time Super Bowl champion, plays for Birmingham City; crooner Ed Sheeran supports his favorite club Ipswich Town; rapper Snoop Dogg and footballer Luka Modric moved to Swansea City – and Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham AFC four and a half years ago, leading them from the fifth to the second division.

The success of Reynolds and McElhenney noticeably fueled interest in football clubs, especially among celebrities from the otherwise unrelated American entertainment sector. Connections between show business and football have always existed, and even former players have become investors after their careers: In the 1970s and 1980s, for example, Elton John, as chairman and owner, led Watford FC from the fourth division to the first division; in the 1982/83 season, the club even reached second place behind Liverpool.

And in 2014, a group of former Manchester United players (Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and later David Beckham) joined the then eighth-tier Salford City FC from Greater Manchester. But Reynolds and McElhenney professionalized such investments—and made them popular across the board.

The two Americans impressively demonstrated that a cleverly placed investment in a football club can increase one's own profile and personal influence, and even make money in the process. And all of this, as they themselves emphasize, with a healthy dose of fun. Most prominent newcomers to the football business are all about all of this: They try to maintain or even expand visibility, reach, and brand presence – including a corresponding image – through the globally popular English game.

The Premier League is considered the most-watched sports league in the world. According to estimates, around four billion people follow the action.

In addition, the barriers to entry for prominent investors are comparatively low. Although Premier League clubs are valued at least half a billion euros, and top clubs are now valued in the mid-single-digit billion range, small investments are often available in the low millions, especially for clubs from lower leagues.

Although the immediate return potential is limited, such investments are considered solid investments, despite the inherent risk of loss. The overall value of professional football clubs has steadily increased in recent years, not least due to the global expansion of the sport.

LeBron James provides a vivid example: Together with business partners, he acquired two percent of Liverpool FC for five and a half million euros in 2011. Ten years later, he converted this stake into a one percent share in the parent company, Fenway Sports Group, whose market value is now estimated at around twelve billion euros.

The time commitment for the celebrities also remains manageable. They are generally not involved in the day-to-day business, receive enthusiastic fan receptions during visits, and have free access to major matches. Even Reynolds recently emphasized on Sky that he and McElhenney "don't make football decisions"; their role is "to be clowns, to support, and to tell stories."

On the other hand, in return for the share sales, the clubs benefit from the glitz and glamour of the stars – and hope to use their media appeal to generate new fan bases, secure more lucrative sponsorship deals, and position their own brands more attractively. The investors' prominence pays off so much, especially in merchandising and marketing, that clubs without prominent names at the top are increasingly finding it difficult to compete financially in the lower leagues and in amateur football.

When Tom Brady started at Birmingham City in August 2023, the club became "the most talked-about football club in the world for ten days" and generated 17 billion positive public views, majority owner Tom Wagner claimed in an open letter at the time. A similar effect can be observed at Brentford FC. The club is suddenly no longer just one of seven Premier League clubs from London – it is Claudia Schiffer's club.

An article from the « NZZ am Sonntag »